Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell gets up after throwing an interception in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell gets up after throwing an interception in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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The Oakland Raiders' Louis Murphy catches a first down pass in the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

The Oakland Raiders' Louis Murphy catches a first down pass in the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski kicks a field goaled against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday Jan.3, 2010, in Oakland, Calif. This was the 1000 point record that Janikowski hit while playing for the Raiders. less

Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski kicks a field goaled against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday Jan.3, 2010, in Oakland, Calif. This was the 1000 point record that Janikowski hit while playing for the ... more

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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The Baltimore Ravens' Dannell Ellerbe laughs with teammates after defeating the Oakland Raiders 21-13 on Sunday in Oakland.

The Baltimore Ravens' Dannell Ellerbe laughs with teammates after defeating the Oakland Raiders 21-13 on Sunday in Oakland.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable walks the sidelines in the game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable walks the sidelines in the game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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The Oakland Raiders' Samson Satele and Brandon Myers congratulate Zach Miller after he scores a touch down in the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

The Oakland Raiders' Samson Satele and Brandon Myers congratulate Zach Miller after he scores a touch down in the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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Oakland Raiders quarterback Charlie Frye throws a pass in the first half of the game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Charlie Frye throws a pass in the first half of the game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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The Baltimore Ravens' Dannell Ellerbe intercepts a pass from Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell in the second half of the game Sunday in Oakland.

The Baltimore Ravens' Dannell Ellerbe intercepts a pass from Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell in the second half of the game Sunday in Oakland.

The Oakland Raiders' Tyvon Branch pressures Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco to throw the ball in the second half of the game Sunday in Oakland.

The Oakland Raiders' Tyvon Branch pressures Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco to throw the ball in the second half of the game Sunday in Oakland.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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Russell makes his case - to be cut in the offseason

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As he prepared to send the Raiders' banished prince into Sunday's game after halftime, coach Tom Cable gathered the offense around him on the sideline and pointed emphatically at JaMarcus Russell.

"I didn't want us to let up," Cable explained later. "(I said) JaMarcus was going to play quarterback, and let's rally around him."

That little conference shouldn't have been necessary. But in addition to losing seven of nine starts earlier this season, Russell appeared to lose the trust of his teammates. In Sunday's 21-13 loss to Baltimore, he did nothing to regain it, carelessly fumbling the ball and throwing an interception directly to a Raven.

Schilens seems more than bright enough to find an appropriate platitude to evade questions about Russell. Instead this second-year player, a seventh-round draft pick whose only clout comes from the considerable potential he revealed late this season, chose silence. It spoke louder than all the boos from the Coliseum crowd.

Schilens had just finished praising Charlie Frye, the erstwhile third-stringer who started the game, completed 18 of 25 passes in the first half for 180 yards, then had to leave because of a sore back. "He was getting drilled, but he was getting the ball off and trusting his receivers," Schilens said.

"He played great. I wish it could have been different. I wish he could have stayed healthy and stayed in there."

Frye started the third quarter on the stationary bike, and Russell took the field, periodically showing off the arm that earned him a $32 million bonus 2 1/2 years ago. He also revealed the footwork, reaction time, ball-handling skills and field vision of a guy who couldn't hold off threats to his job from Frye and second-stringer Bruce Gradkowski, a sixth-round draft pick bounced from three other teams in three seasons.

The fumble, in particular, revealed instincts unworthy of a sandlot. Russell stepped into the pocket, inexplicably pulling the ball down as he moved forward.

"At last minute, getting ready to throw it to a back, and guy came from behind," Russell said, trying to explain the play.

Frye, it should be noted, did not commit a turnover.

"It was shaky, shaky," Russell said of his performance this year. "At times, it was like we were on a roller coaster. Once you go up, you go down, you go up, go down, same thing."

Merely listening to the description could make a person dizzy.

Thinking about the Raiders' options for the 2010 season could produce vertigo.

They can hold onto Russell and fire Cable, a predictable response to another 11-loss season. Given that Al Davis, in his letter firing Lane Kiffin 16 months ago, indignantly proclaimed that Russell would prove the ousted head coach wrong and become a great quarterback, dumping the chosen one seems like a long shot.

Russell is due to make $9.45 million next season, a figure that horrifies fans. (I overheard the number on BART, on a walk toward the stadium and on a walk through the Coliseum corridors after the game.)

He vowed to work hard in the offseason. "Everything as a whole," he said when asked what he would work on. "There's always room for improvement. Why not start with yourself from the top to the bottom?"

But if offseason preparation could repair the damage, he should have done it last summer. His play suggests that either he did not or that the training had no effect.

More to the point, if Cable loses his job because of a failure to develop the quarterback's skills, how could any replacement do better? The coach would have to take on Project Russell while retaining credibility with his returning teammates. At the moment, the two goals seem mutually exclusive, because the most promising Raiders have been sabotaged by the team's commitment to its $32 million man.

Asked whether Russell would return as the starter next season, Cable replied: "Too early to tell."

He can't even know whether that decision will rest with him. So he was almost as succinct as Schilens, because Russell's performance this season left very few verbal options for the people around him. It spoke for itself, in language that cannot be printed here.

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